No Bond Greater than Death
by EAP615
Summary: Three teammates bond over a shared tragedy.


**Hey there my readers! Sorry this story took so long to post. Between studying for finals and my laptop hard disk failing, it was difficult to find time to write. I'm glad I could post this story before returning to school tommorrow. I wanted to experiment with new themes and character interactions with this one, so it may not be my best work.**

**I would also like to thank everyone who has viewed, reviewed, followed, or favorited me and my stories. It means a lot to a guy who joined this site only two weeks ago. Anyways, enjoy!**

**RWBY belongs to Monty Oum and Roosterteeth. I own nothing!**

* * *

Jaune panted and his blood pumped as swung his sword at Russel Thrush, who deflected it with his nunchucks. The two boys were currently fighting against each other on stage with the school watching them; Goodwitch was standing aside with a scroll in her hand. Russel attempted to hit Jaune with one of his nunchucks, but it was blocked by the Arc boy's shield. The green-haired boy swung his other nunchuck at Jaune, this time successfully colliding with his left cheek. Jaune stepped back, hissing in pain, a bruise undoubtedly forming on the now damaged cheek. Jaune charged back in to attack the now smugly grinning boy. Russel used both of his nunchucks in an attempt to hit Jaune's torso, but was blocked by the blonde's sword. Russel then kicked Jaune in the stomach, causing him to stumble before falling onto his back. As he climbed to his feet, he heard the cocky boy call out to him, "Give up already, Arc! I'll just lay you out like I did to your mother!"

That final sentence struck a sensitive nerve with the blonde. His jaw dropped and his eyes went wide in shock for a split second before he barred his teeth and narrowed his eyes with his white aura glowing brilliantly around him.

Russel's eyebrow went up in a mix of surprise and fear, but he still got back into battle stance in anticipation. Jaune sprinted towards his opponent, ferociously roaring as he did so. Russel, though even more scared now, still swung his nunchucks in an attempt to smack him in the face. Jaune went under this attack and used his shield to take the other boy's legs from under him. As Russel began to fall face first to the ground, Jaune used the end of his sword handle to send him to the hard ground faster. While he laid on the ground, Jaune, still in a fit of pure rage, turned the terrified boy on his back and punched him in the face repeatedly.

Normally Jaune would not even consider doing a thing like this, but Russel _really _made him _angry_ with that mother jab. He had really struck a nerve in the blonde boy's heart, even if it was unwittingly.

Russel made this personal.

Jaune mercilessly pounded the green-haired boy's face in, blood spurting from him along with whimpers with every punch. Jaune was so determined to beat the poor boy that he almost failed to catch the loud, authoritative voice behind him,

_Mr. Arc! Mr. Arc! Stand down now! The fight is over. You've won. Stand down now!_

Jaune stopped punching Russel long enough to observe his handiwork. Russel's face was absolutely covered in his own blood while his blue eyes looked up at his attacker in paralyzed fear. Jaune breathed heavily for several seconds before abruptly collecting his weapons and leaving the auditorium with several shocked eyes watching him leave.

* * *

After seeing the brutality committed by her leader, Pyrrha immediately gathered Nora and Ren to search for Jaune, seeing that there was _no _way that they could just leave Jaune alone after an episode like _that_. Ren couldn't help but agree. He was worried greatly for his leader's well being, since it was _very _unlike him to beat up an opponent after already winning the fight.

This must have been a special case.

He and Nora were walking up the stairs that gave access to the roof, Pyrrha having sent the two off to search for him while she herself was at another area of the school. They were hoping that they could find any evidence as to Jaune's whereabouts there.

"We should use the sloth signal to find him! It worked with you and me in the forest!"

"Nora, I don't think Jaune is going to respond to that sort of call."

"But you never know! Maybe he was secretly listening to our conversations ever since we came to Beacon!" Nora delivered that last line with a low and secretive whisper, adding emphasis on her insane theory.

They were on the roof now, and there was no sign of their leader. Ren rolled his eyes at his childhood friend's ramblings. He looked towards the tall towers located within the school as he answered, "Why would Jau-" Ren's answer was cut short at the sight of a head of blonde hair flowing from the top of the tower. Ren always had excellent eyesight, and he could say without a doubt that it was Jaune.

"Ren?" The boy's silence initially worried the orange-haired girl, so she turned to the direction her friend was looking at. She then saw what he was looking at, as her eyesight was even greater than Ren's. Her face immediately brightened up as she cupped her hands around her mouth and she took a deep breath. Ren quickly placed a hand over her open mouth, already knowing what she was going to attempt. Nora looked at him with a confused glance. Ren shook his head, signaling that this was a time to be taken seriously. Nora's shoulders slumped, but Ren knew that she had understood that this was a serious matter.

* * *

"Now Nora, we don't know how Jaune is feeling, so I need you to be cautious about what you say, ok?"

The two partners were standing at the beginning of the stairs that ascended to the top of the tower that Jaune currently occupied. Nora nodded with a stern facial expression plastered across her face. Ren knew full well that Nora, under certain circumstances, could take things very seriously if needed. The two went on up the stairs and cautiously stood at the top, where the blonde leader sat with his back turned towards them, his legs stretched out in front of him and his hands resting on his thighs. If he knew of his teammates' appearance, he did nothing to indicate it.

"Jaune?" Ren asked attentively. Jaune finally looked towards them with an unreadable expression. This got Ren worried instantly. "Hey." Jaune replied in an emotionless manner. Ren was even more worried. Even Nora had a hint of concern on her face. Before any more words could be exchanged, Jaune stared off into the evening sky once again. Ren and Nora looked at each other before having a seat on either side of their leader. Jaune paid no mind to either of them, he just kept staring of into the night without a care.

"Are you ok?"

"Not really."

Ren had been expecting that answer, but still countered, "You can talk about it with us."

"No, I'm good."

Nora was the next one to speak up, "We kinda just came up here to talk to you about … stuff."

Jaune didn't respond, so Ren took a more drastic action, "Does this have anything to do with the crude remark regarding your mother?" Jaune's head immediately snapped towards Ren's direction, somewhat surprised at the question. He stayed quiet for several seconds before turning back towards the evening sky. Ren took this as a yes.

"Sensitive nerve?"

"Yeah." Jaune chocked out with melancholy filling his voice. Both Ren and Nora could see the pain in the poor boy's voice. Ren spoke up again, "Jaune, whatever happened before is clearly bothering you now, and you need to talk about it to someone."

"We won't tell anyone about what you say. Not even Pyrrha." Nora's words immediately got the blonde's attention. Jaune sighed out loud. It apparently had won him over.

"Ok. Fine. I'll tell you."

Ren and Nora's full attention fell upon the Arc boy in-between them.

"When I was little, my family and I went out on camping trips out in the country area of our village. We would have campfires and gaze at stars and all the stuff families do during campouts." Jaune bit back tears as he prepared his next statement. "One day when I was thirteen, we went out to the forest when it was really dry. My dad and I went down to the river to go swimming and my mom stayed back and fell asleep. While we were gone, one of the fire logs was still lighting and fell on the ground while she was asleep. The grass was so dry, it was everywhere by the time me and my dad showed up. Mom was practically burned beyond recognition by the time we go to the hospital. She didn't last long, she died a few hours after we got there."

Jaune paused for a few minutes before continuing. "The thing is, I knew she wasn't going to make it. I knew the moment after I saw the fire. But hearing it wasn't any easier to take."

The three remained in silence. The blonde's eyes were glassy with tears that threatened to fall. The silence was finally broken by Ren. "I'm sorry, Jaune. I really am." Ren looked to Nora who nodded at him before he sighed an added, "You're not the only one who's lost someone."

Jaune immediately looked between his two companions before the pistol-wielder continued, "Did Nora and I ever tell you how we met?"

Jaune then realized that they had indeed neglected to discuss the details regarding their first meeting. He shook his head. The other boy before him sighed and said, "Let's just say that we didn't meet under … preferable circumstances."

Jaune was about to ask what he meant before he indicated to Nora, who now was pulling her legs to her chest. "My mother came from a lot of illnesses. My grandparents, my uncle, my aunts, they all died early from diseases. For a while, my mom didn't seem to have anything. She married my dad and they had me and everything seemed fine. Then when I was little, she turned up _really _sick."

"Her mother had a nerve disease. It went through her family genetics. Thankfully, Nora inherited her father's immunity, so she won't get it when she's older." Ren added to the team leader.

"Yeah, she had to stay at the hospital for a long time. Most of the time when I was younger, I would come and visit her. She would hold me and tell that she loved me, and I would tell her about my day and stuff." Nora gave a small smile at the memories before her face fell again and tears began to fall down her cheeks. "But then she got really bad. She started getting angry and nervous a lot, she couldn't eat on her own, and she couldn't even do anything after a while. She died later when I was , and the last time I talked to her, she couldn't even talk back. And it felt like she wasn't even there."

Jaune had never seen the girl so depressed before. Depression and Nora Valkyrie did not go together, until now. "I'm really sorry to hear that, Nora." Nora nodded as he then turned to Ren, waiting to hear of his story.

"My mother was a very skilled huntress who traveled across the lands to help people." Ren spoke with light fondness building in his voice regarding his own mother. "I would always hear stories from her about where she went and what she did, and I always admired her."

Jaune smiled at this, as it mirrored his own relationship with his father. Ren's face then fell to melancholy as he spoke again, "But during my mother's last mission, she was badly injured by a King Taijitu. One of its heads had bit into her legs when she was distracted. She managed to take it down, but she passed out from blood loss afterwards."

Jaune's face fell at the boy's tale. Seeing Ren saddened was even more foreign than seeing Nora sad. The boy was always so controlled over his emotions that it was so unusual for him to let his feelings out in this manner. "She was very strong though, she lasted almost two months before she died. It was …" Ren had to pause a moment to collect himself before continuing, "Hard to have your hero die when you are at a young age."

The Arc boy was silent at this point. He had no idea what to say. He had never expected his teammates to have such a loss in their lives. Ren continued, "After that, both of out fathers were worried about our well being, so they had us both go to group therapy. Then one day we were assigned partners."

Jaune smiled as he put the pieces together. "And you two were partnered together."

"Yep!" Nora finally spoke up again with her normal chirp in her voice returning. "After I found out that Ren was so awesome, we became friends and we're still together! But not-"

"Not together-together. I know." Jaune smiled, already knowing the girl's motto regarding her friendship with the black-haired boy.

"The point is, Jaune," Ren said to his leader with understanding filling his voice, "We understand that it is not always easy to ask for help regarding these situations. But will be here if you ever need someone to speak to."

Jaune looked up to his teammates with a thankful glint in his eyes. "Thank you both."

"No problem, Jaune!" Nora said cheerily. "That's what friends are for! And do you know what else friends are for?"

Jaune looked at Nora quizzically, Ren briefly mirrored the expression, before his eyes widened in realization. He tried to get up, but it was too late. Nora had already gotten up and hugged both Ren and Jaune and loudly exclaimed, "GROUP HUGS!"

"Can't … breathe…" Jaune said in a constricted voice.

"Nora … please … let go…" Ren pleaded in an equally chocked manner.

The valkyrie then let go of the two boys while smiling sheepishly. The blonde landed on his hands and knees before entering a coughing fit. As he recovered, he noticed something in his peripheral vision. He looked to see Ren offering a hand to him, which he took and stood up on his feet and nodded in appreciation towards his helper.

"Are you going to come down soon?" Ren asked. Jaune went silent momentarily before coming to an answer. "I'll stay just for a few more minutes. And I'm going to tell Pyrrha. I just want to tell her on my own."

"Ookey-dokey!" Nora exclaimed loudly as Ren nodded. With that the two left their leader to his thoughts.

As the two childhood friends traveled down the stairs, Ren couldn't help but smile to himself. He knew that Jaune was strong enough to overcome the tragedy in his prior life. That's why he was their leader, he could overcome it for his friends.

Jaune was going to be fine. Ren was sure of it.

* * *

Jaune continued to stare off into the night sky, this time he was standing. The world around him felt so much lighter with all of his heavy weight off of his shoulders. He knew he would never fully get over his mother's death, but he was glad that he had some people that he could share the pain of death with.

* * *

**Well, there we have it. Again, this was a sort of experiment, so if it's bad, I'll understand.**

**The nerve disease Nora's mother dies of is based off of Huntington's disease. I assume that many of the diseases/disorders/syndromes of the real world exist in the RWBY universe, just not under the actual names.**

**Speaking of Nora, she was mildly difficult to write in this one, since this my first time writing her as a main focus. **

**This will most likely be the last story from me for a while. With finals arriving soon, my writing time while definitly be decreased. I _will _write more this following winter break, so more stories shall arive soon.**

**Before the Author's Notes get longer than the actual story, I'm going to sign off for now. I will return with many more stories in the future, but until then, farewell my readers!**


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